Thomas o gara



(No Model.)

T.. OGAR-A.

SNOW GUARD.

No. 401,202.` Patented Apr. 9, 1889.

UNITED STATES ATENT rricn.

THOMAS OGARA, OF VORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ORLANDO IY. OROROSS, OF SAME PLACE.

S N O W G U A R D SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 401,202, dated April 9, 1889.

Application led December l, 1888. Serial No. 292,389. (No model.)

To all whom t 11mg/ concern; winter season, as many will attest who have Beit known that I, THOMAS OGARA, of the used the same. city and county of lVorcester, and State of To obviate the above objections is the main Massachusetts,haveinvented certain new and purpose of my invention, which consists in 55 5 useful Improvements in Snow-Guards; and I making the snowguard preferably in two do hereby declare that the following is afull, parts, one of sheet metal and the other of clear, and exact description thereof, reference wire, the sheet-metal part being adapted to being had to the accompanying drawings, hook over the upper edge of the bottom slate forming a part of this specification, and in to hold the guard from slipping down, and 6o ro whicltalso to holdthe wire part in a suitable socket Figure 1 represents a vertical section formed therein, said wire part being detachthrough the boarding and slates of part of an able from said holdin f-socket, and the snowordinary roof with my improved snow-guards guard, owing to said construction, also being applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a plan of part of adapted to be applied to the roof either while 65 r the roof, also having said snow-guards therethe roofing is being done or subsequent thereon. The following figures are all upon an ento, all as hereinafter more fully set forth. larged scale. Fig. 3 is a central vertical lon- To enable those skilled in the art to which gitudinal section through one of the guards my invention appertainsto better understand and enough of the slating to show themanner the nature and purpose thereof, I will now 7o 2o of holding' said guard from slipping down or proceed to describe it more in detail.

being withdrawn from the slating. Figs. et In the drawings, A represents the roofand 5 are a front and side view, respectively, boarding, B the slates or shingles, and C my of the guard. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of improved snow-guard. Said snow-guard is the sheet-ni etal holding part of said guard. constructed and applied to the roof in the 2 5 Fig. represents said sheet-nietalpa rtin blank following manner: It is composed of two sepaform preparatory to being' bent into the shape rate and detachable parts, l) and c, the part b shown in Fig. (i. Fig. 8 is a transverse secbeing made from sheet metal, preferably tin tion through the sheet-metal part, taken on or zinc, and the parte of wirc,preferably galline 0., Fig. a, looking down, as indicated by vanized or otherwise coated to protect it from 8o 3o the arrow; and Fig. 9 is a detached view of the weather. In making the sheet-metal part the wire part of the device. b it is iirst cut out by means of suitable dies My invention relates to snow-guards adaptinto substantially the shape shown in Fig. 7, ed to be fastened upon the roof between the with a lateral projection, b', at what constivarious courses of slates or shingles thereon. tutes its lower or base end, and the inclined 3 5 Heretofore snow-guards of this class have cuts b2 bat the upper end to form the ears been made wholly of sheet metal or of wire or d d upon each side, having the lower ends similar material, and have been fastened by thereof preferably clipped off to form square securing their upperends to the roof-boardshoulders d d. Said ears d d are curved or ing or by simply slipping them under the slate bent back so as to project beyond the under 9o 4o between the edges thereof and held therein surface, e, of the plate, as is shown in Figs. 5

by frictional contact only. Those adapted to and 6, for the purpose of forming holdingbe fastened to the boarding are effective in hooks to catch over the upper edge of the use, but possess the disadvantage of not beslate. ing susceptible of application to the roof after The upper end of the part l), or metal strip 45 the sla-tes or shingles are laid, and the others proper, is also preferably bent forward, as is referred to are objectionable from the fact indicated in said Figs. 5 and G, so as to form that they are not held sufficiently secure to a spring to assist in holding the guard in withstand the pressure of snow ordinarily place under the slate, as Well as to facilitate coming against the same, especially on steep the operation of slipping it into position, as roo 5o roofs. Consequently many of the latter are hereinafter more fully specified.

pulled partially or wholly out during each The lower end of the strip l) is provided with a longitudinal holding-socket, f, made by bending the laterally-projecting flange b around against the face of said strip and curving it to produce the socket, with the end passed around against the back of the strip to hold said socket part in position. In practice said holding-strip b is designed to be made automatically, as is also the wire part c, by means of machinery especially designed for the purpose. They may therefore be made expeditiously and at small cost. Said part c is made from a single piece of Wire bent to form the loop c and the straight ends or shanks c2 c2 at or about right angles to said loop, so that when the part is fitted to the strip b the loop will come at about right angles thereto and to the roof when the guard is applied to said roof, as is shown in Figs. l, 2, and 3. The wire part is held by the sheet-metal strip b by slipping the ends c2 c2 down into the socket thereof, previously described, and to facilitate holding said wire part in position it is made with its ends a little apart, as is shown in Fig. 9, so as to bind inthe socket when sprung together and inserted therein.

AMy improved snow-guard may be applied with equal facility to either anew roof while the slating is being done or to an old roof already slated.

In iittin g the guard to a roof already slated the upper bent end of the strip is passed under the ends of two slates at their abutting edges and pushed up until the ears CZ (Z come above the upper edge of the bottom slate and snaps down, so as to hold upon saidupper edge, the straight part or base h of the loop which forms the socket f passing up in the joint g between the two slates in performing said operation, said straight part being eX- tended out at right angles a sufficient dis tance to receive the slate between Jthe face of the strip and loop, so that said loop may pass up outside of the slate. This and the loop of the wire part c are the only parts of the guard appearing to view after said guard is applied to the roof, and therefore does not materially detract from or affect the general appearance thereof. When the snow-guards are applied at the same time that the slates are laid, it is preferable to fasten the upper ends of said snow-guards to the roof-boarding, in addition to holding the same, as previously described. Said fastening is not necessary, however, and I therefore do not limit myself thereto. They may be thus fastened by means of suitable nails passed through openings t' therein and driven into the boarding.

It will at once be apparent to those skilled in the art that snow-guards made as hereinbefore described, and shown in the drawings, may be easily applied before or after the slates are laid, and also made cheaply, as previously stat-ed, while at the same time being strong, durable, and effective in use.

If desired, only the ears d d of the sheetmetal strip b may be curved back, with the body of said strip straight, and an equivalent of the loop of the wire part c may be formed of the sheet-metal integral with the strip Without departing from the principle of my invention, the main oressential feature thereof being the production of a snow-guard which may be fastened by hooking it over the upper edge of the bottom slate and susceptible of being applied in the manner herein set forth.

Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A snow-guard consisting of a strip of sheet metal having holding-ears at its upper end projecting back of its under surface, adapted to catch and hold over the upper edge of the bottom slate, and also provided with a suitable bracket or snow-stop at its lower end, the sheet-metal strip being adapted to be passed up under the edges of two abutting slates, with the aforesaid snow-stop projecting up through the joint between them above the surface thereof, substantially as set forth.

2. A snow-guard comprising, in combination, the sheet-metal strip b, having its upper end cut to produce the ears cl d, projecting back to form hooks adapted to catch and hold over the upper edge of the bottom slate, and said upper end of the main strip bent for- `ward for the purpose specified, said strip also being provided at its lower end with a longitudinal socket, and the Wire part c bent to form a holding-loop or snow-stop, and straight ends at about right angles thereto adapted to be inserted into the aforesaid socket to hold said wire part in position, substantially as set forth.

3. The sheet-metal strip b, having the ears CZ d, projecting back from its upper end, and a longitudinal holding-socket upon the face of its lower end, in combination with the wire part c, bent in such manner as to form a snowstop and to be inserted into the holding-- socket aforesaid, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

THOMAS OGARA.

Vitnesses:

A. A. BARKER, L. W. BRIGGS.

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